Ethics dissent

The announcement of an ethics bill by legislative leaders was notable because they were flanked by representatives of some of the major government reform advocacy groups: Dick Dadey of the Citizens Union, Blair Horner of NYPIRG and Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters.

But Common Cause, whose executive director Susan Lerner has traveled to the Capitol to lobby for tighter ethics reform in the past, thinks the bill is fundamentally flawed because it allows legislators to appoint the members of the body responsible for policing them. Here’s Lerner’s statement:

Common Cause/NY cannot support the joint ethics bill which has been announced this morning in Albany by the Senate and the Assembly. We agree with Senate President Sampson that New Yorkers are demanding significant changes in ethics laws, however we cannot agree that this bill is the sweeping change demanded by the corruption crisis in Albany. We recognize that there are some improvements over current law, but this bill, which does not provide independent ethics oversight over the Legislature and fails to require full disclosure of elected officials’ outside income, does not adequately respond to the public’s demands. The argument that this is the best that can be achieved, in the current political climate, is a sad statement of the inability of the Legislature to distinguish between small steps and the sweeping reform the situation requires. Common Cause/NY does not believe that this bill should be enacted.

Legislative leaders were questioned on this point at the announcement, and Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, defended the structure even while acknowledging it was imperfect.

“Every area is a step forward,” he said. “There is a requirement that appointments of the legislative body include non-legislators…again, everyone here has said: does this bill get everything done? No. Does it do campaign finance reform? No. Does it cut taxes across the board for New Yorkers? No. But it is a huge step forward.”

“There is the fixed term of the investigative executive director who can only be removed for cause,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver added.

A remainder: also present was ousted lobbying chief David Grandeau, who was introduced by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as “strong and effective.” Grandeau lost his job when Eliot Spitzer merged the Lobbying Commission and Ethics Commission into the Commission on Public Integrity.

“I’m probably the most surprised person to be standing here,” Grandeau said before speaking about the bill.

Does this portend a return to government? I phoned him afterward to ask.

“Now is not that time to have that conversation,” he said. “Now let’s get this bill passed, let’s see what commissioners they select for the new commission, and then we may have a conversation about what role I might play in it.”